The three-day AAFDA conference will be held at the Orange Ex-Services Club and has been timed to coincide with the field days so delegates can visit the Borenore event as part of their activities.

ANFD committee chairman Dan Toohey said conference attendees would be discussing ways to work closer together.

“Many AAFDA members believe there is potential to get more value from the organisation,” Dan said.

Field days to be represented include Henty, Tocal, South-East Field Days, Yorke Peninsula, Wandin Silvan, Lardner Park, Agfest Tasmania, Dowerin Machinery Field Days, Riverland, Mudgee, Wimmera Machinery Field Days, Eyre Peninsula, Murrumbateman, Hamilton P&A Society and the New Zealand National Agricultural Field Days Society (Fieldays NZ).

Dan said there was a special connection between Fieldays NZ and the ANFD.

“The NZ field days actually began after some of the founders visited Orange’s field days in the 1950s,” Dan said.

“Fieldays NZ is now the largest agribusiness expo in the Southern Hemisphere, with 130,000 visitors through the gates this year.

“I attended Fieldays NZ in June this year with ANFD administration manager Jayne West. and we were very impressed.

“Innovation is a founding pillar of the event and they have a strong connection to the research community.

“It was also interesting to see that the event was opened by the NZ Prime Minister and there were at least half a dozen government ministers in attendance at any one time.

“You can see the NZ government places a lot of value on their agriculture industry.”

As well as resource sharing, Dan said a rejuvenated AAFDA would provide a valuable forum for discussion.

The AAFDA conference will begin on Thursday, October 20, with a visit to the ANFD site followed by a Civic reception.